Confession: I am a Bad Knitter. When the pattern says to used two different sizes of needles, I rarely do unless it seems vital to do so. This pattern says to cast on and knit the brim of the hat on threes then switch to fives, but come on people, it’s a rolled brim hat, gauge cannot possibly matter that much.

Modificaitons: Other than the previously mentioned refusal to switch needle sizes, the only thing I changed was knitting the whole thing in the same color rather than changing colors for the purl stripes. I figured the variegated yarn provided enough visual interest.

A nice quick knit that I think will look quite fetching on a certain young lady in Ohio.

Since I don’t have my own farm yet, CodeMonkey and I signed up for a CSA farmshare from Grant Family Farms this year. We get a “single” box of produce and a dozen eggs every week which we share with NurseK.

The eggs are awesome – super yummy and laid by hens that are allowed to run around living their happy chicken lives on open pasture.

Oh yeah, and sometimes they’re blue or green. How cool is that.

The produce has been really interesting too. It’s been a fun challenge to try to use up everything in the box every week. Some of the produce is challenging because it’s unusual – kohlrabi, daikon radish, caraflex cabbage, lemon cucumbers, and more. Some of it is challenging because there’s just so darn much of it. Even with just the single box and sharing with NurseK, there have been weeks where I put zucchini (or cilantro, or radishes, or . . .) in everything I cooked. I’ve also been drying and/or freezing a bunch of stuff. Recently I was faced with an overabundance of cucumbers so I decided to do some pickling.

While three good sized cucumbers were too much for me to eat by myself before they went bad (CodeMonkey is anti cucumber), it really wasn’t enough to justify going all out with the water-bath canning and everything so I decided to make some refrigerator pickles. I used Alton Brown’s recipes and made one jar of Sweets and one jar of Sours.

Gather the ingredients.

Sterilize the jars.

Fill the jars.

Boil the brine.

Brine the pickles.

Label, refrigerate for a few days, and enjoy!

The pickles should keep for a few months in the refrigerator, which is good because CodeMonkey doesn’t eat pickles any more than he eats cucumbers. Mmm . . . pickles.

This past Saturday was the first ever Chicken Coop Tour of Denver hosted by the Denver Botanic Gardens and Denver Urban Homesteading. It was a great idea and very well executed. Fifteen urban homesteaders around Denver opened their yards to those who are interested in the idea of urban chickens. It was fascinating to meet the homesteaders and see the wide range of possibilities that fall under the umbrella of urban homesteading – from one small chicken tractor in the front yard to a couple of acres boasting chickens, honeybees, gardens, and orchards.